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Project 1: Drugsline The views and opinions expressed below do not reflect the views of the NCCDP.
History of the Organisation Full contact details: Drugsline Website: www.drugsline.org Admin telephone: 020 8554 3220 Crisis Support Line: 0808 1 606 606 When was the organisation established? In 1991 Is it a statutory or voluntary organisation? Voluntary Why was it established? In response to need – young people were hanging about on street corners in the Gants Hill area and Rabbi Sufrin, the founder, invited them into the community centre to take part in activities. It was then found that many of the young people were experimenting with drugs/alcohol and this was getting some into trouble with the law. Their parents were anxious for help. This led to the crisis/support Drugsline being set up. Later the need was identified for education to be provided to young people in schools. What are your aims and objectives? To provide a multi-component programme, including telephone/crisis support (telephone and face-to-face) to people with drug and alcohol problems, their families and friends, as well as professional counselling services. We also aim to provide a comprehensive range of education and awareness programmes to young people, families and others. How has the organisation developed? The organisation has grown over the past 15 years from a small localised service to offering a national helpline. Schools workers now deliver sessions to 52 schools in 9 different boroughs. Drugsline is continuously growing and expanding, becoming a nationally recognised organisation. Types of projects undertaken and associated activities Who is the project for? People with drug and alcohol/addiction problems. Families and friends, “affected others”. Children and young people in schools and colleges. How are people referred? Counselling referrals come from a wide range of sources: GPs, other organisations and self referrals. What kind of activities are available? Crisis and support line How do you design your interventions (with reference to the evidence base?) Schools outreach work: Programmes are designed with input from PSHE teachers and school staff. A variety of sessions are delivered, dependent upon the age of the children. Programmes are developed and modified as a result of formal and informal feedback from students and teachers. We aim to continuously improve our programme of education and all our services. Challenges What challenges have you faced? The biggest challenge is that of sustainability and funding. The schools education work receives no income from government or local government. All of the funding for this service comes from private donations and donations from schools. The demand for the service is huge. Drugsline have recently employed two new schools outreach workers in response to the demand. The schools work for this year is being funded as a result of a Drugsline Dinner Appeal. Although the organisation is continuing to expand in response to the demand for all our services, including the crisis helpline and counselling service, support from public funds remains limited. By raising money through private sources of finance. The challenge of increasing demand has led us to employ new workers, although we have had to be more creative in the way that we fund these. How do you think drug prevention will develop in the future? I would hope that the prevention work that takes place will improve as there is a realisation that young people need to be educated more about the dangers of drugs/alcohol misuse, so that they can make informed decisions. I would hope that schools will be more committed to drug/alcohol education, to make it part of their curriculum rather than having one-off sessions in order to satisfy Ofsted/government dictated standards, but to have a REAL commitment to equipping their students with realistic life skills which can help them deal with the challenges they face when confronted with difficult situations, including drugs and alcohol. In addition I believe that the involvement of young people, in particular them having a say in what they feel they need to know would go a long way towards producing successful outcomes. More input from parents and more education of parents. And, of course, that more realistic grants are available to fund education provision. Any other comments? The project being undertaken by NCCDP could be of real value in improving the education/prevention work that is currently being carried out in schools. Recent report “Pathways to Problems”, ACMD, indicates that drugs and alcohol prevention “does not work”. However, there is little evidence to prove this in the UK. Without research such as that being carried out by Liverpool John Moores University, it is difficult to know what does have an impact, and if it is found that the current education indeed does not work, then it is vital to find something that does. |
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